The Life of My Flame
by XxHikariiChiixX
Summary: This Zutara fan fiction takes place two years after Sozin's Comet. When Zuko and Katara are reunited, they discover feelings for each other that were once hidden, but are now demanding to surface.
1. Chapter 1: Fire Lord Zuko

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Avatar: the last airbender. If I did, I could promise you there would have been an incredible amount of Zutara in the series!**

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**Chapter One

Fire Lord Zuko

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"Do you hear yourself? Putting a child in charge of the entire Fire Nation Navy Fleet?"

"He's NOT a child! Zen is a respectable young man, and has been a member of the army for several summers!"

"Several? You mean two or three, Yurtza. That boy isn't a day over eighteen, and we all know it."

The balding noble known as Yurtza huffed irritably, folding his arms and leaned back in his seat. "What does it matter? Zen could be one hundred and four, or eighteen. Regardless of his age, the boy is an excellent leader! You're a fool if you cannot accept it."

A larger noble that had been arguing with Yurtza gritted his teeth at his words, absolutely infuriated with the man across from him. "You flea-ridden-" Just as he was to slam his hands onto the surface of the table, he was hushed with an abrupt, and rather impatient voice from the head of the oval table.

"That's enough!"

A pair of golden orbs narrowed into slits, the glare the Fire Lord was embedding into his nobles' skulls could melt bone if he tried. "If this is why you summoned me, then this meeting is over." Neither of the men protested, both nobles' mouths dropping in shock with eyes wide enough to count each and every vein in the white of their eyes as they watching Zuko rise from his seat and exit the room.

For the past two hours, Fire Lord Zuko sat in his place at the head of the table and listened to senile old men argue, bicker, and complain about this and that, all that didn't require his presence and could have been settled on their own time. Course, starting a debate during political meetings always formed sides; other men agreeing or disagreeing to what one man suggested, and the other disapproved of. A majority of the time, those sort of meetings came to an end quickly, for the young Fire Lord had little patience for the irrelevant conversations.

Zuko sighed heavily when he turned the corner into his personal chambers, the hall towards his study completely silent and empty, just as he preferred. Each morning, he awoke with the rise of the sun, just as most fire benders, but no matter how early he got to work on papers, documents, and treaties, he never saw the cherry wood surface of his desk that lied beneath the mountain of paperwork.

His golden orbs were locked on the floor when he shut the door to his study behind him, but a bored and aggravated sigh averted his gaze from the wooden ground to the bland woman leaning against the wall across from him. "Mai," his voice contained little emotion, other than annoyance that she was in his personal study without his permission. The woman didn't move, and sighed once again, starring out the window at two noblewomen walking beneath them. Her lack of response wasn't uncommon, so Zuko walked around his desk and seated himself in the chair to get some work done. The only sound in the room was Zuko snatching a parchment from the top of the pile and setting it in front of him, the occasional flutter of the paper being shifted as he read closer towards the bottom of the page. Even though he was accustomed to the lack of conversation while in Mai's presence, the silence was unbearable.

"Are you going to ask me how the meeting went?" There was silence, which the Fire Lord took none too lightly and tossing the parchment from his hands to the side. Mai's coal black orbs averted from the window to her boyfriend, watching him impatiently cast his work aside and leaned forward onto his desk. "No," she said dully, facing him with a blank expression. Her response didn't please him, but it was something he really needed to get used to. Mai _never_ cared about his day, none the less asked about it. The one time she joined him to one of his meetings didn't go smoothly; the noblewoman sat in her seat and drummed her black-painted nails against the table with boredom. Once Zuko asked her to stop, she scoffed at him, complaining that this was the most nauseating two hours she had ever endured. After that, she never offered, or even permitted to accompany him while he was handling business.

"Why did I even bother to ask." His voice was low, and a bit on the inaudible side, just to avoid picking an argument with the woman, but to allow him to vent a little from the frustration boiling below his skin. Unfortunately, his attempt for his girlfriend to miss what he commented didn't succeed, Mai's brow arching though, the plain, and emotionless expression still remained plastered on her square-like face. "Do you have something to say, Zuko?" She had intended to ruffle his feathers enough for him to turn around, which she did, the Fire Lord turning to face her in his seat with his lips pinned low to form a frown.

"Nothing. Since you don't want to speak to me, I have work that needs to be done."That was snippy! Mai too, frowned at the lack of attention and walked past him and out the door, the wood shutting softly, despite her peeved attitude. "Mmph," he sighed, exhausted with trying to please the noblewoman every day, only to have his efforts shot to shit. His fingers traced the outline of his scar delicately, trying to calm himself down enough to return his focus back to his work. Admitting that his relationship with Mai wasn't going anywhere wasn't exactly what he had the time, nor the patience to face at the moment, especially with a pile of paperwork so high that he couldn't see over the top of it when he was sitting down. With a soft sigh, Zuko lifted the parchment he had tossed to his side earlier and rolled it up, sliding the hole over a gold bar that hung over the right side of his desk. A small flame flickered on the tip of his finger, the orange fire licking the edges of the paper before slowly engulfing the parchment with embers. Might as well make _some_ use of the garbage.

For the next hour, the scarred young man sat in his study and went through nearly twenty different parchments, reading through them carefully and either replying to them, setting them aside to be attached to a messenger-hawk, or burned, like he had the first of the stack. But, after so long of treaties being either denied, or approved, a blue piece of paper found it's way into his fingers, Zuko's golden eyes scanning the silver ribbon that kept the parchment sealed to find the Southern Water Tribe Emblem stamped on a corner. A smug smile crept over his pale features, opening it carefully, though in a hurried fashion. The ribbon was settled gently in his lap while he read the cursive letters, his smile broadening with every line.

_Fire Lord Zuko,_

_I know you may be busy, but Katara's birthday is coming up soon, and we (Sukki, Sokka, Toph, Hakoda, and the entire water nation) would love for you to join us! Besides, Hakoda would like to speak with you of more political affairs, if you really need an excuse to come down. A few weeks wouldn't hurt, right?_

_You friend,_

_Avatar Aang_

After a moment, Zuko reread the invitation and leaned back in his chair, completely relieved, and even excited of the reminder. This only meant one thing; A vacation.

**A/N: Well, this is my first fanfic ever, none the less first Zutara story, so I hope you enjoy! I know it's incredibly short, but this is just the first chapter, but I wanted to get this story posted before I lost any of my ideas. This is going to be a very long, and fun fanfic, so I hope I keep my readers interested long enough through all three parts.**

**Warning: This story is rated M for violence, sexual references, language, and some lovely steamy chapters! Though it will be a later in Part one, it will be included. **


	2. Chapter 2: A Fresh Start

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Avatar: the last airbender. If so, there would have been much more Zutara!**

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**Chapter Two: A Fresh Start**

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A lump from underneath a pile of furs groaned uncomfortably at the light that slipped through the window, the mixed hides shifting before being thrown from thin figure beneath them. "Mmph." Katara rested her head on the fluffy down pillow and squinted at the sun that was rising towards the middle of the sky, not even concerned with what time it was. Obviously, it wasn't noon yet, since her bending classes start then and someone would have awakened her rather abruptly, but from the position the sun sat in the sky, the water bender made a safe assumption that it was around ten thirty, eleven o' clock.

Grumbling under her breath, Katara swung her feet over the bed and onto the freezing marble floor. Despite how chilly the stone was, she was unaffected by the temperature; living in the South Pole, or more specifically extremely low temperatures, had made her body accustomed to the uncomfortable weather. Thanks to Toph and King Bhumi, the new Chief House had been remodeled. Toph bended sets of metal doors for the front of the house, as well as each room, since ice didn't seem too appealing towards the guests that stayed with them. Once Bhumi had settled back into Omashu, the old man sent over nearly a dozen shipments of black marble from one of the caves near his city, along with a crew of Earth benders to place the gargantuan tiles on the floor of Hakoda's home. After the reconstruction of the house, many thought of it as a small palace from how nice it looked, and in a way it was. Hakoda had taken his place as Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, which made his entire bloodline, and Gran-Gran of course, nobility. No one complained, other than Katara when Toph called her Princess Fussy Britches.

Her toned fingers rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she made her way into the bath that was connected to her room, yanking off her clothes with every step. A trough extended through the iced wall for her to bend water through it. With a flick of her wrist, icy water spewed from the iron channel and into the tub, Katara filling the brass tub until it was full. The wood that was piled beneath it were dry, and were kept that way so that igniting them to warm the water wasn't difficult. Grabbing a match, she rubbed the tip of the small flint against the rugged paper until a small flame flickered at the tip of the light wood, Katara tossing it onto the fire and watched the flames swallow the large pieces without a second to spare.

While the water heated, the water bender scrubbed her face with the chilling water to wake herself up, as well as cleansing her toned and perfect skin from the grogginess brought with sleep. Despite how used she was to the cold temperature, she gasped when the water collided with her cheeks, the young woman shaking her shoulders to drive the chills from blossoming over her limbs. Her hair loops had knotted since she had forgotten to take them down and put her hair up the previous night. Yesterday, everyone had celebrated Toph and Aang's arrival to the Southern Water Tribe for her birthday, and talking for so long with the two of them and the remainder of the group lasted until late into the night, and once she came into her room, she was reluctant to even put some more comfortable clothes on, none the less crawl under the covers.

Her hands wiped away the excess water that clung to her eyes before her finger submerged into the tub of water, it's heat warming her entire hand. The ties that kept her hair back were tossed on the dresser in her room before she climbed into the tub, Katara sinking farther into the hot water and sighed, completely relaxed.

The memory of Aang and Toph arriving last night wasn't a pleasant one, primarily her lack of excitement towards the Avatar. Even though she didn't realize it until after they were eating dinner, she hadn't greeted him as he had anticipated. She remembered smiling and waving at them until Appa landed, giving Toph a hug first and then her boyfriend when he jumped off shortly after the blind Earth bender. He hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead, now that he had grown several inches and towered over. But, when he leaned down to kiss her, Aang sensed her reluctance. Katara only pecked his lips casually, and not passionately and welcoming like he imagined his girlfriend would after four months of no contact. Aang had been moping around all evening, and as obligated as Katara felt to keep him company, dealing with him while he was pouting wasn't something she was going to do.

His childish tantrums were so irritating! It was every time he didn't get his way, the Avatar became so upset that he dragged the whole group's attitude down into the dumps. Grumbling, Katara slid down the copper tub and blew bubbles on the surface of the water to put her thoughts at ease.

It took twenty minutes to scrub her limbs, wash her hair with oils and lotions, and dry off, leaving her with about a half an hour until her classes started. Steam clung to the walls from the heat of the water. Her feet were hot against the chilled marble floor when she stepped out of the tub, bending the remaining water droplets from her hair and skin. That was always a plus to being a bender- there was no need for towels when you could just bend the water away! Well, it was more along the lazy side, but the water bender would never admit it.

From the closet beside her bed, Katara snatched a pair of thick wool undergarments that rested snugly on her hips. her bindings were on the nightstand and found their way into her hands. The wraps warmed her chest when it was covered with the thin material, along with a pair of navy blue leggings lined with fur. A thin body shirt made of the same material as the leggings were pulled over her shoulder and lined with the same white fur, both pieces of the body suit water proof. Convenient, huh? But the remainder of her outfit was the same as usual, the light blue robe tied back with a white band on her stomach to keep from getting in her way. Usually, that was all she wore, other than the pair of black flat shoes that were tight on her feet, but in the South Pole, the thick light blue jacket was always draped over her shoulders, along with a thick pair of boots full of lion panther fur.

The ice was was used as a bit of a mirror, Katara double checking that every article of clothing was in order before tying her hair back and placing the loops perfectly beside her cheek bones. After one more inspection, she was out the door and making her way towards the clearing now on an island that connected four bridges to the large ice blocks of the city.

The kids were playing, pushing each other and giggling about silly jokes, but what she didn't notice at first was the bald air bender propped up on the little ball of air in the middle of the group. A soft smile formed over her plush lips, and once she reached the bottom of the bridge to the island, Aang's cloudy orbs averted from the smiles of the children around him to Katara. "Hey Katara!" He called childishly, all of the children turning to see their teacher approaching them with a smug smirk. "Morning Master Katara!" they all chimed, grinning so wide, she could count each and every one of their teeth from where she was.

"Good morning." Her voice was gentle, and much more calm, compared to Aang's peppy demeanor. "Alright, let's get into our places, please," the woman waved her hand to the side, and the children hustled from their places around the Avatar into rows. Aang remained in his place but crossed his legs to meditate, blocking out the sounds of passersby and the cooing of the students.

She waited for a moment for the kids to get into their places before removing a pair of gloves and stuffing them into a pocket of her jacket. "Let's work on the water whip again." Her arms lifted gracefully as she bended water from the water that the bridges crossed, the children doing the same, but in much smaller amounts. There were few fast learners amongst the class, but all of them could summon the element just fine, as long as there was a body of water close by. All of them could form the whip, but once it came to moving it, the water the children were bending fell about their feet, drenching their boots and making the ice incredibly slippery.

As she instructed them how to move the water, her mind was somewhere else. The form and move was so elementary, she didn't really have to pay much attention, since her focus was somewhere else. The entire hour, she had been thinking about her birthday. It was only a week away, and stifling her excitement to have all of her friends together again was impossible. Really, she had been around Toph, Aang, and Sukki several times in the past few months, but who she hadn't seen was Zuko.

The last time the two were together was a few months after the war for his coronation, but they had been writing to each other ever since. With every passing day, she missed him more and more. Their friendship was a special one, since what brought them together was their mothers' absences. The grieving and discovering made them inseparable, being away from him for so long was starting to take a toll on her.

With a sigh, Katara watched as some of the kids finally turned their whips to and fro, slowly, but surely. She reassured herself he was on a ship heading towards the South Pole, and would see him soon.

Very soon.

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**A/N: Sorry it took so long to post D: School is starting next week and I'm having to get everything ready before the weekend. If it's boring, I sowwy. It'll get much more entertaining once chapter three is up! Happy reading!**


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